Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Women - The New Minority

When the word minority is mentioned, it is associated mainly with ethnic and religious identities. Even more disturbingly, the word minority is almost synonymous with terrorism.

I would like to focus on a “New Minority” – Gender and more specifically women. How can women, who make up roughly half the world’s population and 52% of the Sri Lankan population be considered as a minority? While most Sri Lankans cannot accept ideological differences, I believe the key to ending all social injustice lies in recognizing this new minority.

Women aged between 15 - 65 amount to 7.4 million of our population and should be in a dominant position as they are major contributors to the economy.




Source : http://www.indexmundi.com/sri_lanka/demographics_profile.html

In Sri Lanka, the top two forex earners can be attributed to women – housemaids and garments. Yet, our influence on policies, economic development and education remains nil. Women holding portfolios in parliament is 6.8% whereas the representation is over 35% in some countries. This minority is a key segment and a dominant contributor in every way to socio-economic development of this country. As such, policies should acknowledge the ramification of social injustice.

To quote the famous words of Martin Luther King Jr. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. Law enforcers should be held responsible for enacting the laws effectively and law makers need to be held accountable. 

A gender based injustice is far more fundamental than any other form of prejudice. Two genders is the very foundation upon which nature is built on. Gender is the ultimate reality of biology and we must respect this fact. When there is discrimination against nature, how can we except society to render fair treatment against one another? When a nation doesn't respect and love its women – how can it be expected to respect and love other differences?

This blog has been started with the sole purpose of educating society on one simple fact – Women are the new MINORITY.  In accordance with the President's manifesto, which states that maximum action will be taken to prevent abuse. Let us all work together to stop the perpetrators and hold them culpable for their actions. Because --“we cannot succeed when half of us are held back." ―Malala Yousafzai.

Let us unite in this National Call for Change and reconstruct the foundations of Sri Lankan society!

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